2020 Could Be a Tough Housing Market

According to a recent CNBC article, 2020 could be a year of continued short housing supply.

CNBC states,

• Sales of existing homes will fall 1.8% from 2019, according to the forecast.
• Home prices will flatten nationally, increasing just 0.8% annually, but prices will fall in a quarter of the 100 largest metropolitan markets, including Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Miami, St. Louis, Detroit and San Francisco.
• As demand heats up in the spring, driven by the growing number of millennials entering the market, the supply of homes for sale could hit its lowest in history.

Isn't the Economy Strong?

Well yes, it is. However some of the market forces pointed out in this piece include:

• Baby Boomers may not have strong incentive to sell if prices soften
• Millennials being priced out of some markets and renting instead
• The average homeowner now spends 13 years in their home - up from 8 years in 2010
• Still low mortgage rates are creating enormous demand relative to supply of homes for sale
• Investors that swooped in since 2011 have kept homes as investment properties due to strong rental incomes

What This Means for Home Inspections

It's just what we think. We could be in for a decrease in sales volume, leading to less inspections. New home builds will be on the rise however, so there could be opportunity for those home inspectors that are active in the new build inspection segment.

With increased challenges for homebuyers, this could lead to further "waiving" of home inspections. While this is never a smart move to not get a home inspection at all, our hope is that buyers just waive the right to negotiate with inspection findings, not getting a home inspection all together.

Whenever we see this type of data we continue to brainstorm other value adds that home inspectors could bring. Rental inspections, AirBnB inspections, etc. Regardless, diversifying to ancillary inspections and services is never a bad move.